Chapter 31
After what happened last time, Althea understood the temper of Mr. Quigley Sr. all too well. If she didn’t handle this properly, she might not walk out of the study
alive.
Suddenly, she dropped to her knees with a thud, gripping Lindsay’s pant leg. Looking up, eyes red and desperate, she pleaded, “Lindsay, I admit I had the sperm bank destroyed, but I only did it for your sake!” Check latest chapters at
With the evidence laid bare, denying it would only make the old man angrier.
Lindsay looked down at Althea with a wry smile. “Oh? For my sake? Since when is making sure Yves can never have a child good for me?”
Althea swiped a trembling hand across her face, voice choking up. “You’re only twenty-three. Yves is going to be a vegetable for the rest of his life. Even if you went through with IVF, the child would grow up in a broken home, with only one parent. That’s not fair to a child.”
“A child does need a complete family, but if the family itself is already shattered, isn’t that just as cruel?”
Lindsay fought back a laugh. “So that’s it-everything you’ve done is out of concern for my hypothetical child, afraid they might suffer in a single-parent home.”
“Anyone who doesn’t know better would think you and Helen are terrified my child would be a threat to you both.”
“Lindsay, it’s not like that!” Helen chimed in, her performance even more theatrical than Althea’s. She sobbed, tears streaming down her face, clutching her handkerchief like the world’s most misunderstood martyr. “We just think that bringing a child into the world without a father is unspeakably cruel.”
Lindsay’s expression was ice. She watched their performance, unhurried, letting them squirm a while longer.
“Mr. Quigley, from the moment I married into this family, I’ve been loyal to the Quigley in every way. I practically raised Yves myself. They say a sister-in-law is like a mother; I gave him everything I had.” Althea’s voice grew louder and more pitiful, pounding her fist against her chest as though her heart might break from the effort. “But when it comes to this IVF business, I just can’t agree with it!”
Suddenly, Helen threw her arms around Althea, patting her on the back with exaggerated sympathy. “Althea, I know you meant well. Otherwise, I never would have agreed to help you carry out this plan. We’ve both been through so much— we know how important a father is in a child’s life.”
On the surface, Helen’s words sounded like support, but everyone could hear she was distancing herself from the blame.
Althea shot Helen a sideways glare. Snake. How had she never noticed just how manipulative Helen could be? Now the woman wanted to wash her hands of the whole mess, leaving Althea to take the fall alone?
Not a chance.
Althea grabbed Helen’s hand tightly, letting her tears drip one by one onto Helen’s skin.
“Helen, honestly, I should have listened to you. I never should have rushed into bribing those mercenaries to destroy the sperm bank. That was just treating the symptom, not the cause. Like you said, we should have gone straight to the root of the problem.”
Anyone with half a brain could hear the implication.
The old man’s face grew even darker, his sharp gaze fixed on Helen.
Lindsay’s lips curled into a cold little smile as she watched them turn on each other like caged hens.
“I never said that!” Helen protested immediately, realizing Althea was trying to drag her down. She shoved Althea away and strode over to Lindsay, gripping her hand tightly.
“Lindsay, you know me. I may have a sharp tongue, but I’ve always had a soft heart. Ever since you came to live with the Quigley at eight years old, I’ve treated you as if you were my own daughter.”